“Big winner. Big winner here,” the dealer said as he pushed the huge pile of chips in front of Sam. He just looked at them with wide eyes. The bet he placed was just a random bet. It was his last chip and he just threw it on the table and let it fall on which ever number it landed on. Now some how he was standing there with an enormous pile of chips.
He grabbed a chip off the top and threw it onto the table. It hit the table and began to spin on its side. Eventually it landed on black 26. Sam pushed all of his chips onto black 26.
“Here goes nothing,” he whispered to himself. The dealer spun the roulette wheel. All the numbers on the wheel became a blur as they went spinning by. The little white ball fell from the dealer’s hand and began to click and clack all over the dividers. Sam closed his eyes as he thought for sure he just made the biggest mistake anyone could imagine.
“Twenty-six black!” the dealer exclaimed. The people around Sam began to cheer as he slowly opened his eyes. He was sure he had heard the dealer wrong. Sitting in front of him was a smaller pile of chips but the numbers on the chips were more than he could imagine. Sam pulled the pile to him. Something in his mind told him to quit now just as it had told him to place the second bet.
A man in a nice suit came up to him and shook his hand. The man had jet black hair except for the two tufts of gray that had settled at his temples. He had a nice tan. It was obvious he enjoyed nice things. Sam knew right away he worked for the casino.
“Congratulations on your winnings. That’s quite a haul.” The man smiled. His teeth were all perfectly straight and a bright white. Sam imagined the man smiling in a dark room and the room suddenly bursting into white light. “My name is Henry. I work for this fine establishment. I was told to make you welcome here.” As he talked he moved his hands around as if to show off his pride and joy.
“Thank you. It was pure luck really,” Sam said. Henry smiled back at him. Again Sam thought those white teeth might blind him if he looked at them for to long.
“That’s all it ever is is luck. But we here at the casino like to take care of our winners. I’ve been instructed to offer you one of the winner’s suites that we have upstairs.” Sam shook his head.
“Oh that’s okay. I’m in the Comfort Inn a few blocks over.” Henry put his arm around Sam’s shoulders and began to walk him towards the elevator.
“Oh but Mr. . . ?”
“Covington,” Sam informed him.
“But Mr. Covington why would you want to go back to a small place like that when you can relax in a luxury suite free of charge?”
“Free?”
“Tell you what. You go on up. I’ll call over to the Comfort Inn and have your belongings brought over. We’ll even comp you for what you paid for the room over there. Sound fair?”
“That sounds great.” Sam was very excited. He felt like a winner for the first time in a long time.
“So what are you in town for Mr. Covington?”
“Computer Sales Convention.”
“You having a good time in Vegas Mr. Covington?” Sam nodded. Henry stopped and pushed the up button on the elevator. “Great. Now just leave those chips here with me and I’ll have someone bring up your winnings in a little while.” Sam dumped his armload of chips into Henry’s waiting arms.
“Thank you Henry. This is the greatest trip I’ve ever taken.”
“Well you enjoy it Mr. Covington.” Sam walked onto the elevator. Henry nodded to one of the employees who came over and took the armload of chips. “Mr. Covington if you need anything just call down to the front desk and ask for me. And I do mean anything. After all there are lots of things that are legal here that you might not chance in other parts of the country. So anything you need. Just let me know. We want to make this trip as memorable as we can for you.” Henry reached into his pocket and pulled out a key.
“You’re going to be staying in room 1209. Top floor. Lovely view of the city. Frank Sinatra used to stay in that room. Enjoy your stay Mr. Covington.” Henry reached in and hit the twelfth floor button and took a step back. The doors closed as he smiled in a Sam.
As the elevator rose to the top floor Sam was happy just thinking about all the money he just won. It would help pay to fix his car. It could help catch him up with his credit card bills. Maybe if he was lucky enough he could get his cable hooked back up. Finally things were turning around like he knew it would.
The elevator dinged as the doors opened. A long hallway stretched before him. He crept out of the elevator. No one seemed to be staying on this floor. The loud clinks of the slot machines and the overall murmur of the casino lay twelve floors down. He began down the hallway looking at the numbers on the doors. 1209 loomed at the end. As he approached he thought he could hear whispering voices on the other side of the door.
Sam pressed his ear to the door and could definitely make out the sound of voices. What they were saying was being muffled through the door. He gave a soft rap on the door.
“Hello?” Immediately the whispering stopped. “I was told I was staying in this room.” Only silence came from the other side of the door. Again he knocked on the door. This time with a little more vigor. “Is anyone there?” Nothing.
Sam slid the key into the door and turned the key. The door opened to darkness. He could barely see into the room. Nothing seemed to move or make a sound. As he reached in the find the light switch Sam just imagined something grabbing his hand in the darkness and pulling him into the abyss. He found the light switch easily enough.
The room flooded with light. Inside was the most beautiful room he had ever seen. It had a full living room, kitchen, large bathroom (complete with hot tub), and a huge bedroom. Sam flopped down on the bed and closed his eyes. A smile spread across his face. He knew things weren’t going to stay this good so he might as well enjoy it. As he opened his eyes he saw himself looking down from the ceiling. This gave him a start. He noticed that the him on the ceiling jumped as well. Complete with ceiling mirrors. He smiled again. Maybe he would have to take Henry up on his offer. This place was too great to not share with someone else. Even if that someone else was charging by the hour.
After making use of the bathroom Sam made his way out into the living room. He opened the curtains and looked out at the city. Spread out before him were millions of people. Losing money, making money, breaking up, making up. All in this one city. Sam looked back and forth down the strip. The whole thing was lit up. You could almost mistake it for day time when you were out there walking with the crowd under those lights.
He got closer and closer to the glass to see out into the city. When he was almost touching the glass he glanced up and saw his own reflection in the window. He smiled at himself. As he turned to walk back into the bedroom to call Henry he caught something in the reflection. He quickly turned but saw the room was empty. Sam’s heartbeat had jumped into overdrive. For a moment he thought he saw a woman in the window. He turned back to the window and saw nothing in the reflection.
Sam began to chuckle to himself. He had sex on the brain obviously. His heartbeat began to slow and his breathing regulated itself. He walked over and flipped on the nice plasma TV that hung on one wall. After flipping through numerous sports and news channels he became bored. After a few more flips a menu came up for ordering movies. This again made Sam laugh.
“At least I know the rich people have to pay for their porn too.” He turned the TV off and wandered into the kitchen. Curious he opened the fridge. Inside was a large plate of fresh fruit and a bottle of champagne. He brought the plate out and set it on the counter. The strawberries were a nice dark red. He bit into one and he swore it was the best strawberry he had ever had. After swallowing the strawberry he made up his mind that he couldn’t justify opening the bottle of champagne just for himself.
Sam walked over to the phone on the end table. He punched the number 0. It rang once and the clerk at the front desk picked it up. Just as the clerk spoke a knock at the door came. Sam jumped a little as he wasn’t expecting it. He put the phone down in its cradle without thinking about it.
Sam walked to the door and looked through the peep hole. On the other side was a woman with her back to the door. He slowly opened it. The door creaked slightly and the woman turned to face him. He was stunned. The woman looked and was almost dressed like Ava Gardner. She was beautiful.
“Hello, “ she said with a shy smile. “Are you Mr. Covington?” He nodded his head but was to in shock to say anything. “Henry told me you might like some company.” Sam smiled sheepishly. He felt hot all of a sudden and was sure his face was bright red. They both looked at each other in silence. “Are you going to let me in or was he mistaken about you wanting some . . . company?”
“Oh sorry, “ Sam croaked. His throat was suddenly dry. “Come on in.” He stood to the side and opened the door so she could make her way in. She wore a white evening gown much like you see in the old footage of Marilyn Monroe. It fit her perfectly. “Would you like a drink?”
“Sure,” she responded. “I would love one.” Sam hurried into the kitchen and uncorked the bottle of champagne. It began to overflow and splatter on the floor. Sam tried to keep it from spilling on him but some got on the front of his pants.
“Great, now she’s going to think I exploded in my pants before we even got started.” He tried to brush it off hoping it would make it less noticeable but all that did was spread the wetness to make the mark bigger. Sam just grabbed the glasses and headed into the living room. “Sorry. The bottle sprayed everywhere.” She giggled and then bit her lower lip playfully. He handed her a glass. They clinked glasses and drank. Sam couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She was so beautiful.
“Oh hold on.” Sam went back into the kitchen and brought out the fruit plate. He set it on the coffee table. She grabbed a strawberry and bit into it. “Strawberries are great.” He felt like a dunce as soon as he said it but he didn’t know what else to say.
“So I’m one to waste a lot of time. I know what I’m being paid for and I’m sure it’s not to eat strawberries. So do you want to get started?” Sam gulped down the last bit of his champagne.
“Yes.” She smiled at him and got up from the couch.
“Don’t worry. You’ll have a good time. I promise.” She grabbed his hand and led him into the bedroom. She led him to the edge of the bed and sat him down. He looked up at her with his mouth agape. When he realized he must look like a buffoon he quickly closed it. “Just lie back and have a good time.” She reached back and unzipped her dress. It fell to the floor and her body was just what Sam thought it would be. Amazing. He knew his face had to be bright red now. She came towards him and pushed him back onto the bed. She crawled forward until she was on top of him and began to gently bite his earlobe. He closed his eyes and felt things he wasn’t even sure still worked start to stir. This was by far the best convention he had ever attended. He ran his hands all over her body just letting his fingers take in every curve and detail. She was still playing with his earlobe and it was driving him wild.
Sam opened his eyes and looked up to the mirror that was on the ceiling. The next sound that came out of his mouth was a scream. In the mirror he saw himself lying on the bed but on top of him wasn’t the beautiful call girl he had walked into the room with. Instead it was a rotting corpse that was some how moving around on top of him. Her skin hung from bones that protruded out of the dying flesh. He could see several of her ribs and part of her spine.
As the scream escaped his throat a shot of pain came from his right earlobe as she bit into it. He pushed her off of himself and rolled off the bed. He hit the ground with a thud. She looked over the side of the bed at him.
“What’s the matter lover?” What had once been the woman that looked like Ava Gardner now had one eye missing and the flesh of her mouth was pulled tight so all her teeth were exposed. Blood was around what was left of her lips. He reached up and felt his earlobe only to find a chunk of it was missing. It was now somewhere in her throat.
Sam sprang up and ran into the living room. He reached the door and went to pull it open but it would not budge. He pulled and pulled but nothing came of it. His fists banged on the door as he yelled for help hoping that someone would hear him and open the door from the other side. Just as one of his fists hit the door the lights in his room went out. The only thing that lit the room was the lights from the strip outside. From one of the shadows a figure stepped out. This one looked like a man.
“My women not good enough for you? You piece of s**t.” It walked toward him now. Sam scrambled with the door trying to open it. “They’re good enough for everyone else but not you? You’re some f*u*c*k*ing special guy? That’s it?” Sam ran into the kitchen and opened the drawers looking for anything he could use as a weapon. The only thing he could find was a screwdriver. He looked back out into the living room. It was empty.
Sam walked in and held the screwdriver in front of him. He walked close to the window to keep himself in as much light as possible. There was no one in the room. He turned and put his head against the glass. Tears were streaming down his face. All he really wanted now was to go home. Sam looked into the window and saw the wetness on his face. His eyes caught something off to the side and looked over. In the reflection of the window he saw the woman again.
He turned and saw the former beauty standing there. Her flesh was falling apart. In some places entire pieces hung from her bones. He realized now that he had indeed seen a woman earlier.
“Don’t run lover.” She walked closer to him. Out of the darkness another voice chimed in.
“She’s plenty good for ya. Hell she’s too good for ya.” Then from the other side of the room came other voice.
“I told you I didn’t do it Bugsy. I didn’t take it.” Sam backed up until he felt the window behind him. Figures kept coming out of the darkness. Many talking about murder and death. They advanced and he knew there was no were for him to go. He began swinging the screwdriver at them. It tore away some of their flesh but they didn’t seem to notice. Sam closed his eyes and began to scream. He suddenly felt the window begin to crack and then the next thing he knew he was falling. Several heads poked out to watch him fall. All of them fleshless masks of horror. Sam just saw them get further and further away until darkness overcame him.
Henry finished up his statement with the police officer and walked back into the casino. This was horrible for business. People didn’t feel like gambling when bodies were falling onto the sidewalks in front. He walked back into his office. The phone was ringing off the hook. He picked it up and wasn’t surprised to hear the owner. He had probably seen it on the news.
“I know I know. He was going to walk away with small fortune.” Henry tried to argue with him but he knew I was not the best course of action. The boss didn’t seem to figure out that walking away with that much money was bad for business. “We put him in 1209. He was going to leave with too much. Usually it’s nice and quite but for some reason they must have gotten really riled up. Sometimes they get that way. Yeah it’s better when we can just dump them in the desert. Just be glad they usually look like a suicide.” Henry nodded as the owner let out a flurry of curse words. “Sure thing sir.”
After he hung up the phone he leaned back in his chair. He smiled to himself. At the very least he had saved the casino a small fortune even if it did cost them a half day of business. Now he was just trying to figure out how he was going to get someone up there to fix the window in the haunted room of 1209.
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